by Jeff Colbourne
Northern News Services

NNSL (Nov 12/97) - Yellowknife residents with an interest and appreciation for wine came together last Saturday night at the Mackenzie Lounge to share their love.

Sponsored by the Opimian Society, members saw, smelled and tasted four fine white wines from around the world -- the first tasting of its kind in about four years.

"We will learn how to identify the various scents, tastes and visuals in a wine and score them," said Wendy Colpitts, area secretary for the NWT Opimian Society last Friday.

The four wines -- three German and one Spanish -- were ordered two years ago for the event.

Helmut Epp, a Yellowknife wine connoisseur, led the tasting by explaining in detail such things as where the wine comes from, what type of grape was used, its vintage and why it has a certain smell, taste and sight.

Each of the 16 guests at the tasting were given a piece of bread to eat prior to tasting each wine. Once sampled, each wine was graded on personal preference.

This is the first society wine-tasting in four years, said Colpitts.

The Opimian Society fills the wine void left by the NWT Liquor Commission.

"The Liquor Store is getting better," she said. "They're open to suggestions on what wines to bring in."

Members with the Opimian Society can specially order wine by the case, but it usually takes several months to get here. To be a member, there's an annual fee around $50 to $60.

There's been as many as 40 members in the society but now it has only 25, five of whom live outside of the city, said Colpitts.